Frankie C may have bitten off more than he can chew when he challenged Daniel Negreanu to a heads-up match last August. For better or worse, the seven-time WSOP bracelet winner accepted the provocation and now it’s time for Frankie to put up or shut up.
To his credit, the popular poker creator never wastes an opportunity to create content, and the path to his battle with Negreanu is no different. Frankie has set up a series of heads-up challengers, including Landon Tice and Patrick Leonard, with cameras rolling the entire time for a future docuseries.
We caught up with Frankie at the Resorts World poker room, where he was setting up the cameras and audio for a showdown with Tice. His challenger was a few minutes late.
Challenging poker's 'End Boss'
“I forced myself to play poker 100 days in a row last year. The goal behind that was I had been so focused on making videos that I wanted to focus on becoming a great poker player. So I just changed my focus.”
The end of that challenge had Frankie thinking about a definitive closing chapter. An “End Boss” in his words.
“Who do you think of when you think of 'the End Boss' of poker? I think of Negreanu.”
Frankie challenged Negreanu to a heads-up match in one of the early videos of the series. “My goal in the 100 days was to make $100,000 and then take a portion of that money and take on Daniel.”
For better or worse, Negreanu said “Bring it on son…” back in August. Now, a tentative plan is in place. Frankie will face Kid Poker on March 17 for $10,000. The venue is still to be determined. For now, the challenger has throttled up his preparation.
“Before I play him, it only seems reasonable to go practice my heads-up game with some of the best players like Landon Tice and whoever else wants to challenge me.”
The path to Negreanu
The Tice challenge came together quickly after Frankie fired out a challenge on social media.
“The internet is a fun place. Nowadays, you put one message out and anyone can see and respond to it. Landon had a very funny gif to respond to it in, and I already had his phone number, so I'm like, 'you serious?' He's like, 'yep'.”
The two players chopped it up for a couple of hours and Frankie ended with $900 in profit. The goal is to get six matches in before he fires at the End Boss.
“It's just getting comfortable playing with only one person where you have to play a lot of hands. And all the games I play now, even if it's not against as tough of opponents, will give me practice in more uncomfortable spots so I'm ready to play them.”
